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START OF SCHOOL YEAR CREATES TRAFFIC JAMS IN TURKEY'S BIG CITIES
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 20 2010
Turkey
Crowds fill metrobuses and metrobus stations as the new school year
starts in Turkey.
With some 16 million students and 600,000 teachers returning to
schools to start the new academic year, traffic was congested Monday in
Turkeyâ~@~Ys big cities despite measures to boost public-transportation
ridership.
Traffic jams were common in Istanbul, where around 3 million students
and 13,000 school buses headed to 3,500 preschools, primary schools and
high schools around the city, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday.
In Ankara, resurfacing work on the cityâ~@~Ys two main arteries caused
serious gridlock across town as lines of cars extended for kilometers
in every direction. The mayor called off the construction work for the
day and brought in extra traffic police to try to ease the situation.
Rush to Istanbulâ~@~Ys free Metrobus
In an effort to help relieve congestion, the Istanbul Metropolitan
Municipality offered free rides on the cityâ~@~Ys Metrobus system
Monday morning, a move that led to long lines and heavy traffic in
the Metrobus-only lanes, the DoÄ~_an news agency reported.
The commuter traffic caused approximately 50 Metrobuses to sit bumper
to bumper between Ã~GaÄ~_layan and Zincirlikuyu. Would-be riders
crowded Metrobus stops and were often left to wait even longer as
some of the buses arrived full and would not take on any additional
passengers.
Despite the long waits, some commuters at the stops said they were
pleased with the free service, while others who grew tired of waiting,
especially in the Mecidiyeköy area, decided to walk instead.
The free Metrobus rides lasted from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Istanbul municipality also offered free rides on other forms of
public transportation, including the buses, tramway, city ferries
and metro run by the Istanbul Public Transport Authority, or Ä°ETT,
and the Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc., or Ä°DO.
Ankara crawls to school
The start of the school year combined with extensive roadwork resulted
in severe traffic congestion in Ankara on Monday.
Many people were late for work as cars piled up in front of schools
while parents dropped off their children. Adding to the traffic jam
were tough road conditions due to the repaving of asphalt on major
streets.
Mayor Melih Gökçek stopped the construction work on the main
arteries of the city, the EskiÅ~_ehir and Konya roads, to alleviate
the congestion. Traffic police also worked overtime to ease the flow
of vehicles at key points in the city, especially near schools.
The construction was ongoing because the asphalt being used
to resurface the roads can only be applied in specific weather
conditions. The temperature must be over 20 degrees Celsius, reducing
construction hours to between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
While the special asphalt dries quicker, the roads were left stripped
of the old asphalt, and the unpaved gravel roads contributed to the
slow traffic. The newly asphalted roads will last four to six times
longer than the old ones.
New school year figures
Around the country, 1,226,000 students will start primary school for
the first time this year; these students will have free time for four
or five hours a day in order to get used to going to school, CNNTürk
reported on its website Monday. In addition, the number of provinces
where preschool education is compulsory has been increased from 32
to 57, boosting the number of kids enrolled in preschool education
from 980,000 to 1,100,000.
With the coming of the new school year, the Education Ministry
has distributed a total of 193,925,000 textbooks free-of-charge to
students, including texts in Armenian for students who are Turkish
citizens of Armenian origin.
Across Turkey, there are 26,681 preschools, 33,310 primary schools
and 8,913 high schools. The first half of 2010-2011 academic year will
end Jan. 28, 2011. The second half will begin Feb. 14, 2011, and end
June 17, 2011. The 2011-2012 education year will start Sept. 12, 2011.
From: A. Papazian
Hurriyet Daily News
Sept 20 2010
Turkey
Crowds fill metrobuses and metrobus stations as the new school year
starts in Turkey.
With some 16 million students and 600,000 teachers returning to
schools to start the new academic year, traffic was congested Monday in
Turkeyâ~@~Ys big cities despite measures to boost public-transportation
ridership.
Traffic jams were common in Istanbul, where around 3 million students
and 13,000 school buses headed to 3,500 preschools, primary schools and
high schools around the city, the Anatolia news agency reported Monday.
In Ankara, resurfacing work on the cityâ~@~Ys two main arteries caused
serious gridlock across town as lines of cars extended for kilometers
in every direction. The mayor called off the construction work for the
day and brought in extra traffic police to try to ease the situation.
Rush to Istanbulâ~@~Ys free Metrobus
In an effort to help relieve congestion, the Istanbul Metropolitan
Municipality offered free rides on the cityâ~@~Ys Metrobus system
Monday morning, a move that led to long lines and heavy traffic in
the Metrobus-only lanes, the DoÄ~_an news agency reported.
The commuter traffic caused approximately 50 Metrobuses to sit bumper
to bumper between Ã~GaÄ~_layan and Zincirlikuyu. Would-be riders
crowded Metrobus stops and were often left to wait even longer as
some of the buses arrived full and would not take on any additional
passengers.
Despite the long waits, some commuters at the stops said they were
pleased with the free service, while others who grew tired of waiting,
especially in the Mecidiyeköy area, decided to walk instead.
The free Metrobus rides lasted from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Istanbul municipality also offered free rides on other forms of
public transportation, including the buses, tramway, city ferries
and metro run by the Istanbul Public Transport Authority, or Ä°ETT,
and the Istanbul Fast Ferries Co. Inc., or Ä°DO.
Ankara crawls to school
The start of the school year combined with extensive roadwork resulted
in severe traffic congestion in Ankara on Monday.
Many people were late for work as cars piled up in front of schools
while parents dropped off their children. Adding to the traffic jam
were tough road conditions due to the repaving of asphalt on major
streets.
Mayor Melih Gökçek stopped the construction work on the main
arteries of the city, the EskiÅ~_ehir and Konya roads, to alleviate
the congestion. Traffic police also worked overtime to ease the flow
of vehicles at key points in the city, especially near schools.
The construction was ongoing because the asphalt being used
to resurface the roads can only be applied in specific weather
conditions. The temperature must be over 20 degrees Celsius, reducing
construction hours to between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
While the special asphalt dries quicker, the roads were left stripped
of the old asphalt, and the unpaved gravel roads contributed to the
slow traffic. The newly asphalted roads will last four to six times
longer than the old ones.
New school year figures
Around the country, 1,226,000 students will start primary school for
the first time this year; these students will have free time for four
or five hours a day in order to get used to going to school, CNNTürk
reported on its website Monday. In addition, the number of provinces
where preschool education is compulsory has been increased from 32
to 57, boosting the number of kids enrolled in preschool education
from 980,000 to 1,100,000.
With the coming of the new school year, the Education Ministry
has distributed a total of 193,925,000 textbooks free-of-charge to
students, including texts in Armenian for students who are Turkish
citizens of Armenian origin.
Across Turkey, there are 26,681 preschools, 33,310 primary schools
and 8,913 high schools. The first half of 2010-2011 academic year will
end Jan. 28, 2011. The second half will begin Feb. 14, 2011, and end
June 17, 2011. The 2011-2012 education year will start Sept. 12, 2011.
From: A. Papazian